In Kremlin-ruled Crimea, not all are happy at change

SIMFEROPOL--In the dark of night in Crimea, Anastasiya steps into a pool of yellowish light from a street lamp.

The weary 30-year-old with mousy blonde hair looks furtively side to side and her voice falls to a whisper at the sounds of passersby.

"There is not going to be any democracy here. Not with Putin in charge," said Anastasiya, who lives in a housing block on the scrappy western outskirts of Simferopol — the main city on the Kremlin-ruled peninsula.

"I want to leave but I can't sell my flat. What am I going to do? I just don't have the money," the mother of two said in an interview with AFP.

Ukraine's government estimates there are 25,000 people in Crimea like Anastasiya who want to flee the region after its Russian takeover.

Some of them are already leaving, moving in with friends and relatives in other parts of the country.

The government has set up special hotlines for people fleeing to find jobs and receive pensions, although the practicalities of uprooting and moving to a new city can be daunting.

Before a March 16 disputed referendum on breaking off from Ukraine and joining Russia, there were a few isolated pro-unity rallies in Crimea.

Since then, however, that kind of public dissent has disappeared as Russian troops and pro-Moscow militiamen have tightened their grip.

Anastasiya has never been political.

Ukrainian is just her native language and she just does not like the idea of waking up with a new nationality.

The Black Sea peninsula's two million inhabitants have been told that in less than a month they will automatically all be Russian citizens unless they make a special request to retain Ukrainian nationality.

"I don't want a Russian passport, I want to keep my Ukrainian one! But I'm scared what will happen if I ask for the exemption," Anastasiya said.